2015-07-22

【Aiden in English】

        Everyday it starts off simple and normal enough laps and stretches in the basketball camp of Philadelphia Sports Club or PSC. Yesterday was a real beating on my body. Going downstairs was hard, getting up was hard, and walking was hard. Heck, everything was hard. But today it got even worse because we began with yesterday’s injuries. You have no idea how painful squats were. 

        Yet each day is different, and today it’s time to go swimming. PSC has three pools: the camp pool, the outdoor pool, and the main pool. Apparently, the only good pool is the outdoor one and all the others are sucked. The outdoor one has a diving board and a slide. Neither is great but it is a blast. It’s really funny what miracles water to perform sometimes. The cramps I had in the morning vanished in an area where you didn’t need to use your walking muscles as much. Floating around made no constant pain of stepping too far or running. The cramps came right back in the afternoon though. That wasn’t the only problem that was presented to me after lunch. One kid literally fell down while standing still. He was holding his knee for the rest of the day. Shortly after, a 6-year-old camper got clobbered in the head by an air-ball from the 3-point line. I felt really bad for the kid. It’s not every day that you turn around and get bashed in the face with a flying basketball. Things, at that point, were hectic, but the situation quickly escalated to the point where basically nobody was in the mood to play basketball. 

        There was a two-vs.-two tournament and the coach Dan had to pair up with a little kid since there was an odd number of players. Obviously, the people who advanced were all the tall kids. And no, I was not tall. During the semi-finals, the coach and a tall teenager jumped for a rebound. Our coach came down with the ball, while the kid dropped with a twisted ankle. Like the saying, “don’t hate the player, and hate the game.” His foot kind of just flopped around. When he was asked to turn his ankle, the foot didn’t move. He left early, and so did two others, which left the group with nine people.

        To play basketball or any sport, it’s normal to get hurt (except for bowling and golf). If you want to play but try to avoid getting hurt, then you’re not doing it right. When it comes down to the wire, the game is really decided on who wants to be superior over the other person more. And the winner will be the one who is not afraid to put his personal health on the line. Today the coach said something I thought that was very, very true. It is all about the game. The game makes the players do what they have to do. The meaning kept ringing in my head when I got a poor, little wee six-year-old out in knockout. Hey, you know, it’s all about the game. I hope he wasn’t mad, though. 

        The game is the reason for the injuries. People get hurt, and people are crushed. But we’re doing it for fun and the satisfaction of winning as well.

【红霞译文】

        每次来到费城运动俱乐部篮球夏令营，大家开始先慢跑伸胳膊撂股腿做些极其简单而常规的准备活动。昨天可把我累得够呛，连上下楼梯甚至走路颇觉吃力，太要命了，做什么都非常困难；今天更加糟糕，因为疼痛是有累加效应的，你完全想象不出下蹲的时候该有多痛苦。

        然而每天的活动安排不尽相同，今天轮到大家去游泳。费城运动俱乐部设有三个游泳池：夏令营池、室外池以及主池，室外的那个最棒，其它两个没啥好说。室外游泳池有跳板和滑道，尽管这两样东西算不上什么特别，但玩起来非常带劲。有趣的是水有时怎么那么神奇，早晨我腰酸背痛，浑身上下不是滋味，现在一钻进池里，所有的不适全部烟消云散，水面漂浮可以舒缓常常由大步行走和跑步带来的疼痛，尽管到了下午筋骨之痛又再度重现，但这并不是吃罢午饭唯一出现的问题。有一朋友安静地站在那里，不知怎么却倒在地上，整个下午他一直蜷抱膝盖休息。不一会儿，另一位六岁的营员被三分线上投来的三不粘砸到了脑袋，见状我心里十分难过，毕竟平日借转身之际横遭空中飞来的篮球打中事件并不多见，忙中出乱，这样直接影响到大家打球的心情，后面没人愿意上场。

        接下来进行二对二对抗赛，因为营员总数为单数，丹教练跟一个小不点搭档，看得出技术好的都是身材高大的，且慢，我可不算其中的高个。在半决赛中，教练和大个儿少年争夺篮板，教练抢到了球，而那位少年落地时不慎崴了脚，俗话曾经说过：“千万别嫉恨球员，要恨就恨比赛吧。” 他脚踝脱臼，当被要求转动一下脚脖子时，那只脚根本不听使唤。他提前离去，外加其他两位，剩下的只有我们九名营员。

        打篮球或搞其它运动，受伤在所难免（玩保龄球和高尔夫球例外）。如果你想打球但又害怕受伤，那么你无法干好这项运动。竞技运动激烈残酷，比赛胜负真正取决于参与双方谁更优秀，胜利一定属于无所畏惧敢于置身度外的人。今天教练一席话引起我内心极大的共鸣，既然体育比赛就是较量竞技水平，那么赛场上的运动员必须勇往直前。这句话具体落实到我所经历的场面就是，我一举淘汰了年仅六岁的队友，嘿伙计，要知道这不过是场比赛，但愿别太往心里去。

        比赛带来受伤，人们因此而遭受痛苦，甚至无法重返运动场上。不过我们来夏令营打球都是为了追求快乐这个共同目标的，当然赢球的感觉也相当不错。